New Zealand captain Kane Williamson© AFP
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson proved he is capable of dealing with difficult off-field deliveries as he is at it after a chaotic start to the Cricket World Cup semi-final press conference on Tuesday. With New Zealand facing unbeaten hosts India in the last four in Mumbai on Wednesday, the star batsman was confronted by dozens of reporters at the Wankhede Stadium eager to hear his views. But the press conference began in unusual fashion with a question about the first recorded ascent of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, in Nepal by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
“On May 29, 1953, about 70 years ago…” the reporter said.
But before he could finish the question, Williamson, who was born 37 years later in 1990, blurted out “I remember,” prompting roars of laughter from the assembled journalists and broadcasters.
The press conference was then halted by a screeching microphone before a disembodied voice came over the speaker and said, “Hi mic check, hi mic check, one, two three.”
The reporter then finished his question by comparing the Everest climb to the difficulty New Zealand, losing finalists in the last two World Cups, faced in trying to beat an Indian side that had won all nine of their matches head-to-head.
Williamson, who knows India well from his time in the Indian Premier League, started to answer the question only to be interrupted again by more technical problems.
While officials took a few minutes to sort out the problem, Williamson, 33, played the sound engineer, prompting further laughter by saying: “Hey mic check, mic check, mic check.”
Then he added, “I think I know the question, I’ll answer it soon. It might be the only question, I’ll answer it five different ways.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated news feed.)
Topics covered in this article
“Internet evangelist. Twitter fanatic. Hardcore entrepreneur. Incurable analyst. Extreme food junkie. Unapologetic tv maven. Reader.”
